Anna Selezneva | Alex Lindahl | 'Santa Sangre'

Anna Selezneva: Santa Sangre on Nowness.com.

Fierce Russian beauty Anna Selezneva battles a raging, invisible bull in today’s matador-inspired short by Swedish director Axel Lindahl. Fascinated by the dichotomy of brutality and grace inherent in the historic Spanish bloodsport, Lindahl took on the part of the invisible beast, shouting hysterical profanities at Selezneva to provoke a performance that would capture the urgency and danger of a real fight. “I wanted to do something real and concentrated,” says Lindahl, “and this was the key for me: if you lose the bull for a second, you’re dead. The bull always wins.” Here, Lindahl takes us behind the scenes of the high-intensity set.

Who knew there was a bullfighting ring in Sweden.

An ‘enlightened’ Spain has ended the custom of bullfighting in Catalonia, including Barcelona, in a ban that takes effect on Jan. 12, 2011. The final bullfight took place on Sept. 25.

Spanish locals who support bullfighting refer to the ‘uppity Catalans’ — the intellectuals, the educated, the environmentalists of turning the world against bullfighting. Sounds like the Tea Party vs East/West coast liberals in America. 

Call it the growing war against testosterone, which is cast as preserving male pride and national traditions. It’s the same argument for slaughtering smart, peaceful dolphins in Taiji, Japan.

In more conservative Madrid, bullfighting goes on. NPR reports that out of 24,000 seats for a fight last week, 20,000 were sold before the event. Vanity Fair Spain convered the controversy last year with a style editorial featuring Eva Herzigova, lensed by Rankin.

Eva Herzigova | Rankin | Vanity Fair Spain Sept 2010 SN Living